Novell has positioned its ZENworks 11 product as a "single pane of glass" solution for unified endpoint management. Now at preview release, version 11 is designed to address the converging markets of PC lifecycle management and endpoint security by managing devices across physical, virtual, and cloud environments.

As well as simplifying near-term needs such as Windows 7 migrations, ZENworks 11 is joined by the release of Novell Service Desk, a new product said to centrally manage help desk incidents and align with industry best practices such as ITIL.

"As organizations increasingly rely on virtual and cloud-based applications and desktops, the need for solutions that transcend physical device management is critical," said IDC analyst Fred Broussard. "IT executives, IT managers and administrators will need solutions that can provision, track and manage the software and identify hardware on PCs as they look to implement desktop management across the cloud and virtual environments, as well as the existing desktop."

While competing endpoint management products do exist from vendors such as Lumension and Checkpoint Software, ZENworks 11 purportedly broadens the appeal. The total offering itself represents a relatively extensive upgrade to Novell's endpoint management solutions and now includes four integrated products in one unified platform: ZENworks Configuration Management, ZENworks Endpoint Security Management, ZENworks Asset Management and ZENworks Patch Management.

According to Novell, "This new platform delivers a single, integrated console and agent where IT administrators can manage desktops, patch applications, secure endpoints, and track software license compliance with the precise tools they need, exactly when they need them."